What this all means is that the economics have begun to work in favour of rail travel which is less affected by sudden increases in fuel costs. The majority of the European main lines are electrified using electricity generated increasingly from nuclear and renewable sources and less from gas, coal and oil. There is already evidence from across Europe and the UK of more people switching to rail due to increasing fuel costs at the pumps and higher air fares.

As the airlines are the main competitor with Eurostar, they are now under far more pressure to increase their fares than Eurostar are. In theory this could be good news, but there is a bit of a problem here. Eurostar have a monopoly on rail services between the UK and Europe. Their current service is the maximum that they can provide with the number of trains they can put into service each day. As more and more people use Eurostar, their “demand-led” fares will probably keep increasing until all their trains are full.

While we are pleased that Eurostar has ordered new trains and Virgin have also announced plans to run competing services, this will not be for another 3-4 years. In the meantime, UK residents may remain “cut-off” from affordable rail travel to and from European destinations.

To avoid the “sky-high” Eurostar fares, it may sometimes be cheaper to buy the cheapest Interrail passes, as they also give you free travel to & from “the border” at London St Pancras. The cheapest pass is the 4-day Flexi Pass which gives you unlimited travel across 33 different European Countries. Depending on your age these passes cost between £247 and £309 including the approximately £60 Eurostar reservation fees for a return journey to Paris, Brussels, Lille, Rotterdam & Amsterdam.

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During the course of the year, we also had announcements for more long-term aspirations. Firstly, the UK and Swiss Governments signed an agreement to explore options for direct rail services between the 2 countries. Then in the latter part of the year Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn announced plans to jointly run services between London and one, two or possibly three German City destinations. And there is always “The elephant in the room” as to how will they provide the onerous security & border controls at these destinations and any intermediate stops.

While there is enough capacity with 6 platforms at London St Pancras to run extra services, sooner or later there will be a stronger case for starting services from Stratford International and re-opening Ashford & Ebbsfleet. It is still not clear if there is enough platform & terminal capacity at Paris, Brussels & Amsterdam to run any of the planned extra services.

AND FINALLY – STOP PRESS FROM TRENITALIA -30th DECEMBER 2025

Trenitalia have just announced their own plans to launch a London-Paris service from 2029 – one year ahead of Virgin !! They seem to have enough suitable trains on order, plan to build their own depot in Northern France to service their trains and already run high speed train services in France. Here is their press release: https://parliamentnews.co.uk/italys-fs-group-to-enter-eurostar-route-with-london-paris-trains

And a Happy New Year to all subscribers !!!

More than 31 years after the first Eurostar left London for Paris, Eurostar may finally enjoy some competition from Virgin if and when they launch their new services to Paris & Brussels, hopefully in 2030. This is because the Office for Road & Rail (The Regulator) have ruled that Virgin must be allowed to share the Stratford train care depot with Eurostar. See here for the ORR Press Release: https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-news/rail-regulator-opens-door-future-international-train-services-temple-mills-access. Although Virgin have not been a train operator in the UK since 2019, they were able to make the best case to the Regulator. Virgin have raised suitable finance to order a fleet of “Avelia Stream” trains which can be maintained at the depot in Stratford.

While this is a start, Virgin will have their work cut out for the next 4+ years if the service is to start as planned in 2030. Hopefully, we can finally look forward to lower fares on the London to Paris & Brussels route with proper “through-ticketing” between major UK stations and all major stations in Europe. We now have to wait and see if any of their 3 rivals (Gemini Trains, Evolyn & Trenitalia France) have any further plans. From the UK side, we hope that one of them might have a viable plan to start a service using Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford International stations.

We can recommend a very interesting discussion about this decision and what this might entail for the future. Have a look at this Green Signals video on Youtube at : Virgin Trains is BACK! And ready to take on Eurostar…

For further details see here a recent article in The Guardian >> https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/26/uk-government-backs-return-of-international-rail-travel-to-kent-stations?utm_term=68d61345380b57f0124f3767119ca142&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

MEANWHILE, THERE WILL BE FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN DECEMBER WITH TRAIN SERVICES ON THE EUROPEAN MAINLAND >>>

From the December timetable change, there will be more Eurocity services between Berlin, Poznan and Warsw and a new direct service from Leipzig to Wroclaw, Krakow and Premsyl in southern Poland.

In Austria, the new “Koralbahn” tunnel will open in December, reducing journey times between Vienna and Klagenfurt in Southern Austria by about 45 minutes. This will also reduce the daytime journey between Vienna and Venice – which are two very popular destinations.

AND EASIER THROUGH TICKETING >>>

After a break of a few years, you can now again book through tickets from London with Deutsche Bahn to destinations in Germany and beyond.

1 Deutsche Bahn – They are the German State Rail Operator. They could probably raise the finance and already use similar trains to the e320s used by Eurostar. They have not given a launch-date for any services.

2 Evolyn/FS Italiane Group – This is a joint venture between a large Spanish coach company and Italian State Railways. They can probably raise the finance and claim that the Trenitalia ETR 400 trains could be adapted for use in the channel tunnel. They plan to start services in January 2029 and have applied to use the depot in Stratford to service 10 trains.

3 Gemini Trains- This is a recently formed new company who plan to run trains from London to Brussels & Paris, with some stopping at Ebbsfleet. It is not clear if they can raise the finance to buy or lease the trains. They have also applied to use the Stratford depot to service their trains.

4 Heuro – This is a new Dutch company which announced plans in 2023 to run up to 15 trains through the tunnel. It is also not clear if they can raise the finance to buy or lease the trains.

5 RENFE – This is the Spanish State Rail Operator, who announced plans to run services through the tunnel in 2021. Although they can probably raise the finance, there are “un-resolved” competition issues which could prevent them running trains within or through France.

6 SBB – Swiss Federal Railways – In May 2025, the UK and Swiss Governments signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” to help develop train services between the UK and Switzerland. While no firm plans have been announced, they probably could raise the finance to buy or lease the trains.

7 Virgin Group – They have announced plans to run frequent cross-channel high-speed services without any specific details. They are seeking partners to help raise the £700 million needed to implement their plans. They have also applied to use the Stratford depot to service their trains.

AND THEN A SURPRISE >>>

Eurostar recently announced their plan to serve Frankfurt & Geneva from the 2030s as “the conditions are finally right for them”. They also plan to order some new trains to replace their older trains and increase their fleet size by 16 in total.

BUT ONLY 4 CAN NOW MOVE ONTO THE NEXT STAGE >>>

Eurostar & the 3 companies who have formally lodged a request to use the Temple Mills Depot will have their case considered by The Office of Road & Rail (ORR). They need to provide ORR with information about their finances and the number of trains they plan to use over a 10-year period. The ORR plan to make a decision as to who can use this depot by the end of October.

At the end of March, the Campaign for Better Transport held their conference on International Rail. You may wish to read their Runways to Railways report at: https://bettertransport.org.uk/research/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel/

THEN THE REGULATOR STEPS IN !!

On the same day the Regulator (The Office for Rail & Road) confirmed that there was space for more than one train operator to use the depot in Stratford. This then led to 3 train operators making formal bids to run international train services from London to the continent via HS1 and the Channel Tunnel. The 3 organisations who made formal bids were Evolyn, Virgin and Gemini. There are also up to 4 others who have publicly expressed an interest.

Being realistic, only one of the 3 that have made formal bids is likely to become the first to compete against Eurostar within the next 5 years. Terminal capacity at London, Paris & Brussels can now be increased to cope with more passengers and there is probably enough depot capacity for Eurostar + one other operator to run services from London. In practice this will be the train operator who manages to raise sufficient finance to place a firm order for trains which can be certified to run through the channel tunnel.

AND AN INCENTIVE SCHEME AS WELL !!

HS1 the owners of the High-Speed Line plan to launch an International Growth Incentive Scheme. There will be “Financial Incentives” to encourage train operators to expand services, introduce new destinations and boost passenger numbers.

AND A REMINDER FOR THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION CONFERENCE IN SWINDON on 13th & 14th JUNE.

Members of The European Campaign UK pay the reduced conference fee of 100 Euros. Places are still available. You can find further details of the program and registration via this link: https://www.epfconference.eu/

RUNWAYS TO RAILWAYS : UNLOCKING THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE CHANNEL TUNNEL

Monday 31st March – 6pm to 8pm in London – The Campaign for Better Transport will be holding a panel discussion about how the UK can make better use of International Rail. See below to register for this free event.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/runways-to-railways-unlocking-the-growth-potential-of-the-channel-tunnel-tickets-1262329444349?aff=oddtdtcreator

RESTORING INTERNATIONAL SERVICES FROM ASHFORD & EBBSFLEET

A group of Kent & Sussex MPs have met with Eurostar urging them to carry out a proper assessment of consumer demand for train services serving these 2 stations in Kent. They also met with Virgin & the Rail Minister who confirmed they were both keen to see international services restored to the 2 Kent stations.

ORR – “THE REGULATOR” IS HELPING TO REMOVING ANOTHER BARRIER PREVENTING VIRGIN & EVOLYN STARTING NEW SERVICES FROM LONDON

Last year Virgin & Evolyn made a formal Section 17 depot access application to the ORR (The Office of Rail & Road) for permission to use the International Depot at Stratford for train-preparation & servicing. Eurostar then claimed that there was no space for another operator and also claimed that ORR have no power to make such a decision. The ORR have now ruled that they have the legal authority to make this decision and have appointed an independent expert to investigate & report. They then hope to make a decision later this year. We predict that they will rule that there is enough space, but, for only one new operator.

MORE EUROPEAN DESTINATIONS BECOMES GOVERNMENT POLICY

Lord Hendy – the Rail Minister stated in Parliament on 25th February “The Dft is working as hard as it can to increase the number of European destinations accessible through Eurotunnel”

AND NOW THE SWISS WANT TO COME TO LONDON

Now that the owners of HS1 and Getlink (who own the channel tunnel) are working together to develop more passenger services to/from Europe, our Department of Transport officials have been discussing with Swiss Federal Railways the feasibility of direct services between London and Switzerland. Direct high-speed trains from London to Geneva or Basel could offer journey times of just under 6 hours. See here for more details from Swiss Info: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/could-a-direct-high-speed-train-link-between-switzerland-and-london-soon-be-a-reality/49071586

The town of Swindon has a rich rail history and is associated with Rail 200 – a range of events across the UK celebrating 200 years of the railways.

The conference will take place on Friday 13th June and Saturday 14th June. European Rail campaign (UK) is a member of the European Passenger Federation, which means that members of our campaign are entitled to pay the reduced fee for the conference. See here for further details about the conference: https://www.epf.eu/wp/save-the-date-epf-22nd-annual-conference/?utm_source=Laposta&utm_campaign=EPF+newsletter+86&utm_medium=email

AT LAST – VIRGIN TO RUN AN INTERNATIONAL TRAIN SERVICE FROM THE UK IN 2029?

Virgin have recently announced that they hope to place an order for 12 new high-speed trains. They plan to use them on a new service competing with the current Eurostar services on HS1 and the Channel Tunnel. See here for further details: https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/01/13/virgin-group-speeds-up-train-order-to-compete-with-eurostar-challenge

For further details please see : https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/study-finds-international-passenger-capacity-at-london-st-pancras-could-be-doubled/68004.article

AND THEN COULD THERE NOW BE SOME COMPETITION WITH EUROSTAR ?

There was a very interesting session of “The House of Commons All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group on the 19th November. Getlink (the owners of the Channel Tunnel) suggested there were now 4 good reasons why new train operators could start running passenger trains through the tunnel. Virgin and the Evolyn consortium now seem be the most promising candidates for this market.

We thoroughly recommend that you click on this link, as there is a lot more information – https://www.railwaygazette.com/passenger/turning-point-reached-for-potential-new-channel-tunnel-train-operators/67863.article

Although, in recent years, a through service from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam has been introduced, other services have been permanently withdrawn or not re-instated since the outbreak of Covid in early 2020. There are no longer any through services from the UK to EuroDisney, the South of France or the Ski resorts in the French Alps. Since Covid, trains no longer serve the intermediate stations of Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Calais Frethun.

WHERE ARE WE NOW ?

The capacity of the infrastructure built at great expense remains seriously underused apart from the overcrowded passenger terminal at London St Pancras. Getlink, the owners of the Channel Tunnel, are keen to have more passenger train services running through the tunnel. HS1, the owners of the high-speed line from London to the Tunnel are keen to have more passenger train services running on their line. Eurostar are only willing to concentrate on their core business between London, Lille, Brussels and Amsterdam. Several open access train operators seem willing to run services from Europe to the UK. Although the terminal at St Pancras may be expanded to cope with more departures, there remains unused terminal capacity at Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford.

WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITES ?

The Regulator known as “The Office of Rail and Road” has proposed that HS1 reduce their track access charges by 7.7% for the next 5-year period starting in April 2025. If this is confirmed, we would expect Eurostar to reduce their fares accordingly. For further details see: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/eurostar-fares-southeastern-regulator-orr-hs1-access-charges-b1184975.html

Have a look at Transmanche Metro to see what other services could run if we made better use of the infrastructure. https://transmanchemetro.com/

There are also campaigns to fully open-up Stratford International for services to Europe. For further details see: Eurostar trains would stop at Stratford International in boost to east London under revived proposals | The Standard

And finally, we expect the newly elected Labour Government to be more committed to de-carbonisation of Transport and help facilitate better transport links with Europe.